Sword Art Online: The Hacker's Victory
by EternalEsper995
Summary: During the early days of the Sword Art Online Beta testing, A rookie hacker finds some interesting weapons hidden away in the games coding.These weapons, clearly taken from another game, might be the keys to escaping this Death Game, but with him branded as a hacker and a cheater will anyone trust him enough to fight with him?
1. The Journey Begins-slowly but surely

Sword Art Online

Chapter 1

The first of it's kind, an interesting little gem of a game called Sword Art online.

With the virtual reality craze in full swing with the release of the NerveGear, a highly advanced virtual reality helmet that allows players to access a virtual space without any clunky attachments, just pop the helmet on and you're done.

This is exactly why a certain avid gamer boy had to have it.

"it may have taken a huge chunk out of my trust funds…but it was worth it!" said a young blonde haired boy. As he ran up to his room he excitedly hugged his mother and father awkwardly while holding his NerveGear. "Now, son, we expect you to hold up on your side of the bargain, alright?" the boy's father , Hideaki Shirayuri, stated. The boy released his father from his hug and shook his head violently. "YEAH-YEAH-SURE-I-PROMISE-BUT-RIGHT-NOW-I-GOTTA-GO-TRY-THIS-OUT!" The boy spoke quickly.

His mother sighed, "sometimes I think all you care about is video games!" "I swear, they are going to be the death of you!" his father added in. the young boy sighed heavily "you guys will never quite understand will you?" The boy jokingly said.

His parents laughed, seeing their son all worked up over some stupid helmet was amusing to them.

The boy quickly turned towards the stairs to his bedroom. As he started up them he looked back at his parent. "SO, what are we having for dinner?" he asked. "it's a surprise!" his mother answered. "Well, I'll see you when it's done."

The boy ran up the stairs, Before he reached his door he heard his father shout out to him. "Son," his father paused for a long time. The boy stood still, one hand on the doorknob one on the NerveGear box which was becoming quite heavy. Listen dad, Whatever it is you want to tell me, can it wait? This is getting quite heavy!" his father nodded and started to walk into the living room. His mother walked away into the kitchen the boy could vaguely smell food but he wasn't sure what it was.

The boy turned and opened his door into his room.

Meanwhile the boy's father sat down on the couch and sighed heavily. he grabbed the newspaper and quietly stated "Happy Birthday Shunkei."

Seeing his somewhat dimly lit room was refreshing to him, the rest of his house was quick brightly lit and he was used to the dark. Opening the NerveGear box and quickly reading the instruction manual which he promptly threw onto his desk Shunkei started to set up the NerveGear.

Hooking it up sent small tingles down his spine, Virtual Reality, it still seemed so far away and yet here it was, staring him into the face. He slowly slipped the helmet onto his head feeling his hair instantly clump onto his head.

"_Initiating NerveGear Scanning and Adjustments."_ A Robotic voice spoke out inside the helmet. Instantly Shunkei felt a tingling sensation throughout his body as the NerveGear scanned his entire body. "_Scanning complete, Would you like to create a profile? Without a profile you cannot continue with the NerveGear Setup. If you already have a profile please insert it into the USB 5.0 slot on the left side of the Helmet."_The Robotic Voice stated.

**Create A Profile?**

**Yes**

**No**

Shunkei scanned his eyes over the options. "No." he spoke.

A new text box appeared. "**Are you sure?"**

"yes." He spoke.

A new text box read. "**Do you already have a profile?"**

"yes." Shunkei spoke again getting quite annoyed.

Inserting his flashdrive into the NerveGear it instantly found his profile"_Shunkei." _The Computer voice said.

Silently thanking his friend for letting him use his NerveGear to create his profile beforehand and letting him have his Flash drive,

"Link Start!" Shunkei exclaimed with audible excitement, and just like that, his brain was disconnected from the real world and redirected by the Nerve Gear into a Full Dive. Instantly Shunkei felt a cold wind take over his body as a strange tunnel of lights and twists soon overcame his vision. Within seconds he felt his body go numb only to be replaced with the sensation of falling. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, constantly twisting like something out of a movie

'I think I'm going to be sick!" Shunkei thought to himself.

Shunkei's body started to tingle all over, when a loud chime signaled that the connection was perfect .

_'Complete Upload, Complete!'_

_'Checking, Complete!'_

'_Body Type Upload, Complete!'_

'_Sensor Test Results, 100%'_

'_NerveGear First Time Setup Complete!'_

'_Loading Game:Sword Art Online…'_

After seconds of waiting, Shunkei saw the title of the game of his dreams.

Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン

'_Log in/Register?'_

Shunkei lifted one hand slowly, shocked at how natural it felt to move within the virtual world, and touched the Log In button.

'Language: 'Japanese'

'Account: ***************

'Password: ******

Creation Character:

Original Character data: BlazeStarter, still available.

Would you like to use it?

**Yes**

No

Enter Now?

Shunkei Hovered his hand over both option (yes, no.) wondering if what he planned to do once he got into the game was right.

"I may break it, but they're in the game's code, should I still do it though?" he thought to himself, hearing his voice echo over the fantasy style music was slightly unnerving as if the game itself could hear him.

"What am I worried about I could just pass them off as special weapons, but I'm not a beta tester, I could be spotted and called a….AW SCREW IT! HERE I GO!"

Without further thought, shunkei pressed the yes button.

The Music flourished as the title words flashed white, a female, mystical sounding voice boomed. "**WELCOME TO SWORD ART ONLINE!" **Shunkei felt his heart race, "Here I go!" he shouted as the world started to materialise around him.

* * *

**Well as my first official Delving into the Sword Art Online Universe i guess i should say that even though the world didn't quite appear in this chapter because i wanted to set up the story more and show what i imagine as a very long and tedious process of settin up the NerveGear, And the whole setting up the NerveGear sequence was what i like to call *Padding* for my story, *Weak Trumpet Fanfare* so yeah the next chapter i hope will feature some action if i can think of it. The weapons in the summary are something i thought would always fit with the mythos of Sword Art and i figured "why not add them myself!"**

**The Next chapter will deal with how he gets them and such and it will feture Kirito and hopefully will be out either tommorow or sometime during next week.**

**See You Later!**


	2. My Name Is Syren

Chapter 2

Watching the world materialize around him, taking in every little pixel and polygon watching them form into buildings and NPC Characters.

Noticing that his whole body was slowly growing, his muscle mass increasing slightly and his facial features changing to something different the first thought that ran through his head was "I hope my avatar isn't stupid looking!"

To his enjoyment, it wasn't.

Gone were his blonde, straight locks of hair they were replaced with silver, shoulder length hair that would remind anyone of the devil hunter, Dante. He was noticeably taller standing well above his natural height. The only thing that didn't change much was his weight, besides his slightly increased muscle mass, his body was fairly lean, his clothing changed in an instant into a white, open style hooded robe with red trimmings and red swirls down his back that form red angel wings, black pants with mystical runes etched into them on each leg, black boots which seemed to be nothing but pure Leatheris

"leatheris Boots, so they can't just call them leather or something?" Shunkei wondered to himself as he flipped the hood up. His upper body was covered in Steel Chain-link armor underneath a plain black shirt. Sighing in content with what he looked like, Shunkei started out into the first town.

Happily running through town seeing NPC characters talking, actual players talking, it all seemed so weird to do that, the game world was meant to be used as a way to combat evil forces and reach the top of the world, but instead people were using this like it was FACEBOOK. "Some people are afraid to explore the world I guess." Shunkei sighed. "Oh well, I guess that means that I'll just kill their share of stuff."

After what seemed like hours of running around in the town, Shunkei felt good, not only because he gained an achievement for exploring the full town, he also…explored the whole town. "Hmm… I guess I haven't really done anything else." Skidding to a halt, Shun noticed a tall man running down an alley into a known shop. "You sure stand out dude." Shun said to himself not getting a good look at him but noticing his muscular physique. Shun took no immediate interest in him until he saw a red haired man follow after him. Noticing that the two of them weren't in the same party, Shun decided to follow the red head curiosity striking him. Sprinting after them, Shun started to wonder… "WHY THE HELL DO I CARE?!" skidding to a halt, he started to turn around, only to turn back around and start running after them again. "WHOAH, WHOAH, WHOAH, WHOAH!" Crashing into stalls, NPC's, Players, NPC's carrying Pots, he wanted to stop and apologize but it felt like something else was controlling him. "Why won't I stop?...WHY WON'T I STOP?!" Something else Was controlling him!

"OH SHIT!" was all he could say as he saw a NPC blacksmith carrying a new anvil across the street.

_In The Alley_

"You move like you've been here before, were you in the BETA Test?" The red headed man said.

"Y-yeah" a tall man with dark blue, almost black hair responded.

"Well, this is my first day." The red head stated.

"S-so?" the blue haired man asked.

"So, Show me the basics, okay?" the redhead asked…more like stated.

The dark haired man responded with an "Umm…" before the redhead started up again. Clasping his hands together, the redhead said, "Please I'm begging you!"

.he stated loudly.

The dark haired man seemed at a loss of words, he opened his mouth only to be cut off again.

"My name's Klein, Nice to meet you!" the redhead stated with a wink and a thumbs up. The dark haired man sighed, "I'm Kirito."

"Nice to meet you Kirito!" Klein said. So, does that mean you'll teach me, I mean you introduced yourself?" Klein said. Kirito nodded followed with Klein Jumping happily in the air.

Moments later however, sounds of crashing and people screaming took over Klein's screams of joy. Kirito, Unsure of what to do immediately drew his sword from his back and took a defensive position in front of Klein who took out his own sword, a One Handed Curved Sword.

As the sounds of crashing got closer and louder, Klein wondered "Who would attack in the first town? That's just low!" Kirito seemed to ignore him completely, focusing his entire attention back to the main street. Closer it came until a silver haired man, covered in food, dowsed with water from head to toe with a large bump on his head came rolling into view. Landing what looked painfully on his face as a wagon wheel rolled past him the silver haired man stood up slowly, holding his head. "Dammit, that really hurt." He said lazily. Kirito stood shocked at what had just transpired in front of him. Seeing the Silver haired man look behind him, and quickly look surprised as if he didn't mean to cause all that trouble. Kirito slowly lowered his sword, Klein did the same. Walking slowly towards the man as he started to shout apologizes to the crowd of people who gathered in the street, wondered the same thing Kirito and Klein did. The duo was only a few feet from the man and stopped. Not wanting to get closer than that. Kirito cleared his throat, alerting the man to their presence.

_With Shun._

Standing in the street wondering what the hell just happened, Shun chuckled sheepishly, "I hope a GM didn't see me bowl through all these players, I'm surprised I didn't hit a child player or a cat." Shun thought to himself. Instantly an image of a cat flying through the air flooded into his brain making him have to hold back a laugh which at this time would not be good especially with all these players around. "Jeez, hold it together Shun, just remember where you are." Hearing a throat being cleared, shun whirled around, afraid of what was about to come next. Seeing the dark haired man standing a few feet away from him with a sword drawn, shun tensed up. The man seemed to notice as he quickly sheathed his sword on his back with the redhead behind him doing the same. "umm." Was all Shun could say. The two men continued to stare at him. "Hi!" Shun said loosening up. "I'm Screwed, I'm Screwed, I'm Screwed!" Shun thoughts ran rampant. The redhead was the first to speak. "So, did you attack someone or something?" "Why would I…Ohhh… that...well, that you see is a glitch." Shun stated matter-of-factly. "So you didn't attack?" The redhead asked. "Nope" Shun stated casually. "I was actually trying to follow you guys…sorta." Shun stated, rubbing his nose. The redhead responded with a grunt while The dark haired man asked "Okay, first things first, what's your name and what do you want with us?" The dark haired man said menacingly. Shun slowly approached the man not intimidated in the slightest. "My name is Shu- err, Syren." The redhead spoke up next "My name is Klein." He stated. The dark haired man spoke next but it wasn't an answer, more like a question. "My name is Kirito but Syren, That's not your name." he stated "your name is Blazestarter." He stated again. Shun sighed, not really wanting to explain.

"Okay, you know this old game, still kind of fun to play based Star Wars?" shun asked. "SWTOR?" Klein responded. Shun nodded his head while Kirito asked another question. "What does that have to do with SAO?" Well, I thought that Blazestarter would be a cool ACCOUNT name but it turns out that it would double as my CHARACTER'S name as well, I already had a name for my character which was Syren, but since Blazestarter is his official name and I don't know how to change it, I just took on the alias Syren, to compensate, you follow?" Kirito nodded. "So between you and me, my name is Syren, Okay?"

Klein agreed immediately and Kirito agreed with a nod. " Now about why I followed you…"

Shun explained his story to the both of them, explaining about how he noticed Kirito and how he lost control of his avatar.

At the end of the story Klein couldn't help but laugh. "SO YOU RAN INTO AN ANVIL?" Klein said in between laughs. "Shut up!" Kirito next took a stab at Shun. "It takes some skill to run into an anvil." Shut up!" Shun responded again.

After a few more wise cracks, which even shun joined in on, their laughter died down. Noticing how they were still in a alley, shun decided to speak up. "So, besides talking in a dark alley, what were you guys doing?"

It was now Kirito's turn to explain.

"So you were going to teach him the ropes of SAO?" Shun stated.

Kirito nodded while Klein shrank into the wall they were sitting against. Shun leaned forward getting a look at Klein noticing his beard. "So you're a Newbie?"

"Yeah…" Klein sank further into the wall. "You've got your hands full with this one." Kirito nodded chuckling to himself. "Well, I guess I'll join you two."

"WHAAAT?!" Kirito and Klein said in unison. "Shun stood up from the wall and looked out the opposite way of the alley, "well, I could use a refresher too, so since you guys are basically going to be running through the basics, I figured why not go with you?" Klein stood up quickly and stretched, "The more the merrier!" he stated.

Shun put his hands up. "Now hold up there dude, we gotta see if the trainer is okay with this." Shun stated motioning to Kirito who was still sitting.

Klein looked down to Kirito who was looking between the two of them, unsure of what to say. Finally Kirito stood up. "Alright, you can come." He stated with a smile. "SWEET!" Shun shouted. Klein smiled happily. "But where do we go to?" Kirito turned towards the back of the alley and pointed out towards The West Fields.

After many hours of showing Klein the ropes of SAO the three men decided to friend each other. Hours went by as Klein and Shun each practiced a Sword Skill, with each use each of them got progressively better at the required movement. A few more hours and they were all now just resting on a hill, looking over the gorgeous horizon.

"I still can't believe it, no matter how many times I see it." Klein said

"You still can't believe that were in in a game, right?" Shun added.

Who ever made it is a genius!" Klein stated with excitement. It's really amazing, I'm glad I was born in this time." "totally." Shun responded. Kirito chuckled to himself, you guys make a big deal out of everything." "It's my first Full Dive!" Klein responded with a faux hurt voice. Shun Chuckled to himself, looked back over to his right, where he saw a player try to kill a boar. The player was obviously a newbie and was quickly over powered by the boar. Seeing the boar do one final charge at the player before the player exploded into pixels shun chuckled to himself as the boar turned away, regaining it's lost HP.

"You can't win 'em all, can you?" shun said out loud to no one in particular. His thoughts were interrupted with Klein saying something about meeting his friends. Shun turned back to see a disgruntled Kirito looking away. Hearing half of the conversation and understanding Kirito's feelings, Shun turned to Klein and whispered something into his ear. Klein immediately understood. "Of course of you don't want to, that's okay." Klein said waving his hand, "I'll introduce you another time." Kirito looked back at Klein and nodded, "Yeah, sorry…Thanks" He stated.

Shun chuckled at bit, seeing at how these were his first, new friends on SAO, he couldn't help but smile at them both. "I'll repay you for this sometime, Mentally!" Klein said, placing a hand on Kirito's shoulder. Kirito sighed, "thanks, man." Shun, again chuckled at his sarcasm. "Klein stuck his hand out for a handshake, I'll see you guys around." He said Kirito grasped it and shook before looking at Shun. Shun walked over and placed his hand on top their hands "See ya, Klein!" Shun said Cheerfully. Klein gave a final wave of goodbye but Shun's mind was somewhere else.

Shunkei looked out again to the horizon. "Should I tell them?" he thought to himself, "He opened his inventory looking at the three swords staring him in the face, all of their attributes high especially the third one. Thinking back to how he found them shun soon lost himself in his thoughts.

_**Flashback**_

_**During the BETA**_

_Shun wandered aimlessly in The West Fields, unsure if he should try and complete the game or just do whatever he wanted. Seeing as how it took a month just to reach the 8__th__ floor, he was pretty sure he didn't want to do that just yet. _

_Shun had finally decided on what to do, explore. "wandering, doing some s'ploring cause s'plorin is fun!" Shun sang happily to himself attracting some attention due to his aloof nature .Opening his map, Shun quickly noticed a giant blob of white in the farthest corner of the map. "well I might as well see what this is about." He said to himself. He started sprinting out into it's general direction._

_Many hours later, he arrived at his destination. Or what the map told him it was. "It's just a dry patch of grass?!" Shun shouted in bewilderment. "GREAT I spend all this time getting here and it's just grass!" he then opened his map again hoping to find the nearest town. But something caught his attention. "if it's just a patch of dry grass, why is the blob so big?" he said to himself._

_He approached the patch of grass only to collide with what felt like a solid wall._

"_Hmmm… that's strange." Shun noted. Knowing instantly what to do Shun opened up the main menu and activated voice command. "NerveGear System Memory." Shun Stated. Instantly another menu opened and it showed a list of things stored int the NerveGear. Shun scrolled through it and found what he was looking for. His Hack Tools. Shun immediately got to work on figuring out why this one patch of grass was inaccessible._

_Many hours later, he finally got through. But instead of it revealing what was hiding it instead showed a giant door, like something off of a caste, unsure of what was ahead shun looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Satisfied he opened the door._

_Stepping through the door he saw a huge, moldy, decrepit room with a large chest in the middle._

_Stepping further into the room shun felt scared. "Heeellloo?" he called out hoping for no respond. When all seemed clear he felt a cool wind blow from behind. Turning instinctively he saw the door closing behind him by itself._

_No, No, No, No, No NO!" Shun ran at the door screaming but reached it too late as it closed with a dull thud. Shun tried with all his might to open it again but it wouldn't budge. "dammit!" he shouted. Noticing the torches on the walls were lighting. Unsure of what to do now, he decided to follow them. The whole room started to illuminate as the torches light until the whole room was flooded with light he continued to follow the torches until he reached the chest. As the last few torches lit one of them struck the corner of a large red curtain that hung above the chest that completely covered the wall. Watching it burn up until it was gone and watching more torches light slowly revealing a message scrawled on the wall where the curtain used to be._

_**TO THE PLAYER WHO HAS DISCOVERED THIS ROOM, BY OUTSIDE MEANS OR BY IN GAME MEANS, YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY OF WIELDING THESE THREE BLADES,THOU SHALL NOW WIELD THE POWER OF THE CANCELLED EXPANSION PACK: The Fire Emblem!**_

_**KNOW NOW THAT THE POWER YOU WIELD WILL DETERMINE THE FATE OF EVERYONE! GO FORTH AND FEAR NO DARKNESS!**_

_As soon as shun finished reading, the chest suddenly burst open with a giant gust of wind almost knocking shun of his feet. As the wind settled down he noticed three swords floating in front of him. Seeing a golden sword with a black hilt with a green gem in the middle of the hilt surrounded in blue fire and another blade with what looked like a steel blade with a golden hilt it and a red gem in the middle of the hilt surround by red fire, what stood out about this sword besides the fire was the golden strip down the middle of it and it's fancy hilt. The last sword was not surrounded by fire but instead came with a shield it was a long sword with a curved sharp looking hilt again with a red gem in the middle of the hilt. Shun was shocked, he never thought he would see these swords in this game, but here they were staring him in the face. As he examined each sword a nameplate embellished in fire popped up underneath each one.( From left to right)_

_Ragnell: blessed by the goddess, Yune._

_Sword of Seals: sealed with the power of the demon dragon, Idenn_

_Falchion: Forged from the Dragon Naga's fang._

_Shield of Seals: Infused with the Fire Emblem._

_Shock and awe took over shun, the feeling of wielding these divine blades was a dream of his for the longest time. Grabbing each of the swords and storing Ragnell and the Falchion in his inventory he stood holding the Sword of Seals in his hand. Happiness taking him over he immediately rose the sword with both hands over his head unknowingly letting light reflect off of the swords blade and into the Shield of seals. The Shield seemed to shine brighter and as it got brighter it shot a giant beam of light towards the door creaked open as shun lowered the sword not knowing what he had done. turning around and grabbing the shield shun looked back at the door only to be greeted with a grassy field._

_Weird, how'd the door open?"shun asked himself as he started toward the door. Stepping out he noticed a few players in the distance deciding to hide his new found weapons in his inventory shun walked through the door towards the players._

_Unknown to him but the door disappeared behind him._

_As he got closer he noticed a loud booming voice say "thank you for playing the Sword Art Online Beta!, all items found during this test will be carried over to your official character but we highly suggest you keep them hidden from other players as it may cause discrimination between testers and non-testers. Shun nodded ready to log out for the day and buy the game when it launches to all 1,001 players we thank you! Servers shutting down in 15 minutes." The voice said stuttering on the 1,001. "Wait a minute 1,001 players that's not right." Shun overheard a player say. "Yeah if there were 1,001 slots available, why wasn't my friend invited?" he heard another say. "it must be a glitch." Another said. " I hope so." Sighing shun walked into a secluded part of town and waited for the servers to cut off. _seeing a figure approach him shun lifted his eyelids and looked up only to see… Kirito? "Wait…WHAT?!" "Syren, Syren!"

_**Flashback end**_

Being shaken from his thoughts, shun stood up quickly and looked around wildly "What, Who, Where?!" Klein was still standing with a concerned look on his face. "Dude, I know you're a newbie but I'm pretty sure you can log out right?" shun said laughing slightly. "Well I know how to do that but…" Klein said.

"But?" Shun asked.

"There's no Log out button."

* * *

**LONGEST CHAPTER i have ever done, sorry about not sticking with my whole promise of a new one during the week after i first started but life's been hellish so i'm sorry next one will be out soon than this one! also if you payed attention, the weapons are from Fire Emblem! i had this idea from the beginning and i always wanted to combine these two universes but i'm not listing this as a crossover because it only features the weapons not the characters, and i know that no one would read it if it was a crossover so yeah... enjoy and review also i was thinking about using music in this story like soundtracks from the anime and other anime's so if you want me to do this l'll update the other chapter with a soundtrack thing and this one chapter too, But remember it's all up to you guys! Read & Review!**


	3. The Wielder of The Three Swords

Chapter 3

"No logout button?" Shun said in mild disbelieve, "What MMO doesn't have a logout button?" Kirito followed. "This one apparently, but it is still strange." Shun said. "Look closer" Kirito said. "No, It's not here" Klein muttered. "Maybe in options?" shun asked, "Why would it be there?" Kirito responded, "Where else do we look!?" shun shot back, opening the menu. Sure enough there was no logout button. "Bottom of the main menu…" Kirito stopped mid-sentence looking at his own menu. "What?!" Kirito exclaimed. "See what I mean?" Klein said. Shun looking through the entire menu options, system settings, game settings, audio, "Why would it be there?" Shun thought to himself. "Well, it's the first day out of Beta, there's bound to be some bugs." Klein stated. "But, it was there in the beta, I saw people logout!" Shun stated, "Why would it be gone in the full version?" "Regardless, I'm sure the server people are freaking out." Klein said. "In a moment you'll be too." Kirito told Klein, "It's 5:25…" "MY TERIYAKI MAYO PIZZA AND GINGER ALE!" Klein yelled. Shun was confused, "Teriyaki mayo pizza?" shun asked bewildered. "THE PIZZA I ORDERED, I'M NOT GONNA GET IT!" Klein shouted again sadness clearly in his voice. "Okay, who puts mayo on pizza?" shun asked. Klein stood up, his mouth gaping. "You haven't done that before?" Klein asked, sadness suddenly gone. "No, I stick with the classics dude, Pepperoni, Bacon, Ham, Supreme, You know." Shun listed. "Anyway," he continued, "we should call the GM." he finished. "I tried but nothing's happening." Klein said. "Is there any other way to logout?" Shun asked, looking at Kirito. Kirito looked around, thinking up an answer. "No, if a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the menu." He finally said. "That's nuts." Klein shouted exasperatedly. "What about just taking it off?" Shun asked. Both Kirito and Klein looked at him. Klein responded with grunt while crossing his arms. "How would you go about doing that?" He asked. "Well I could open a link to my computer with my web cam, then, I could ask someone to remove it from there." Shun responded. It was Kirito's turn to respond, "You can't." he stated simply, it could damage your brain or kill you." Kirito finished solemnly. "Dammit." Was all shun could say. Shun stood gazing off into the distance, thinking about ways to logout without killing himself. Shun couldn't tell what Kirito was thinking but Klein was busy shouting words.

Twilight soon fell as the three friends were still stumped on how to get out. Shun was still focused on his thoughts just barely listening to the conversation Kirito was having with Klein.

"I told you, there's no emergency logout in the manual either." Kirito told Klein. "You're kidding?" Klein followed, Kirito shook his head. Meanwhile, Shun was still coming to dead ends, everything ended with him mentally disabled, paralyzed from the waist down or dead. Shun shook his head at the thought of being spoon fed mushy baby food for the rest of his life. "So we wait for them to fix the bug?" Klein asked Kirito. "Or for someone to take The NerveGear off of us." Kirito said. Shun turned back towards them, "But you said that could damage us, or even kill us!" Shun shouted. "But our families don't know that." Kirito stated. Shun grunted before turning back towards the horizon. "But I live alone." Klein stated. The clouds moved in front of the sun. "What about you guys?" Klein asked, curiosity striking him.

Shun was the first to answer. "I live with my parents; I have a four year old sister, a twenty year old sister and a possible brother on the way." He said grimly. Kirito was next, "I have a mom and a sister, so I think they'll notice that I'm not there at dinnertime." He said sadly. Klein ran at Kirito, grasping him on the shoulders firmly. "How old is your little sister?!" Klein said quickly. Kirito looked shocked, "She's on s sports team, and she hates games." He stated being pushed back by Klein, "She has nothing to do with people like us." Kirito stated trying to detour the conversation. "That doesn't mat-" Was all Klein could say before receiving a swift kick to the groin from behind, coming from Shun, then another from Kirito sending him flying back. Klein Instinctively grabbed his crotch while groaning, before standing up "Right, it doesn't hurt." He muttered. "Careful there Romeo, just because it doesn't hurt in game doesn't mean it won't hurt in real life." Shun stated cracking his knuckles. "More importantly, don't you find this weird?" Shun continued. "Sure, I do," Klein said, but it's just a bug." "It isn't just a bug" Kirito said lowly. "If we can't logout of the game, that'll pose a serious problem for the game's future." He again stated lowly. "Come to think of it, you're right." Shun said. "If they wanted to, they could shut down the servers and log everyone out, but they haven't." Shun said pacing back and forth his face serious. Suddenly a bell started to toll. "Bells?!" Shun asked bewildered as Kirito and Klein gasped in unison. The bells continued to toll as the three friends stood in silence. Suddenly a bright blue light appeared below Klein and Kirito slowly enveloping them in its blinding light, "Guys?!" was all shun could say as they disappeared. Shun looked around frantically hunting for sign of where they went. Seeing more players disappear within the same light, his heart started to pound faster, "What the hell is happening?" he stated. Hearing a shimmering sound, Shun looked down only to see the same blue light appear beneath him. "Oh, FU-"

He then disappeared.

Hearing the same bell again but only louder than the last time, Shun looked around. As if on cue with the bell, more players arrived at wherever he was. "Syren!" Shun turned his head to where he believed he heard his name. Noticing Klein waving his arm high, Shun ran towards him seeing Kirito standing beside him.

Reaching them Shun immediately asked, "Where are we?" The town of beginnings" Kirito said. "How did we get here?" Shun asked. "A forced teleport." Kirito answered again. "Shun looked bewildered, who has that kind of power to teleport every single player in SAO?

Shun was about to ask, when someone suddenly shouted, "Look, in the sky!" turning his head towards the source of the voice then up to the sky, shun noticed a small red thing flashing. "Warning?" he thought, "What the hell?" The warning sign suddenly shot out more signs all with what sounded like a piano was crescendoing. Soon, the whole Sky was filled with blood red flashing signs illuminating the courtyard with a red hue. Shun stood silently, heart racing with amazement and terror. Suddenly the sky started to ooze… blood? "What is that?" Klein asked to no one as the blood started to take a shape. Seconds later the blood formed a figure, a heavily cloaked man whose face was covered by his hood leaving a threatening black void where his face should be. "A game master." Someone in the crowd said. "If so, that's one hell of an entrance!" Shun shouted, earning a grin from some of the players in the crowd. "Attention players," the figure began speaking, Shun was shocked at how deep the voice was, "Welcome to my world." It continued. "My world?" Kirito stated. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko," it boomed, as of this moment, I am the only one who can control this world." It boomed again. Murmurs quickly ran through the crowd, "That's him?" It can't be." I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." Kayaba stated. "But this is not a defect, or as you would say a bug, in this game." He stated. "Not a bug?!" Shun thought, "What whack job doesn't put a logout button in a game, ON PURPOSE?!" Shun shouted towards Kayaba. The figure turned slightly and seemed to look directly at Shunkei. Instantly, Shun felt a strong pressure force him to his knees, shivering he felt his HP slightly drain. "It is a feature of Sword Art Online." Kayaba stated, slight annoyance in his voice, "A- A feature?" Klein asked. "you cannot logout of SAO yourselves." Kayaba said, "And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear." Shun started to feel sick he felt like throwing up, the might of Kayaba's avatar was scary, it felt like a thousand weights had been dropped on him but nevertheless, he kept listening. "Should this be attempted," Kayaba stated, "The transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain, thus ending your life." Kayaba finished while black smoke emitted from inside his hood. "What?!" Shun gasped while murmurs started up from the crowd again. Looking to his left, Shun noticed a couple start towards the nearest exit, muttering something about leaving, see the boy bang against an invisible wall, shun decided he had seen enough and slowly stood up. "What's he talking about, he's got to be nuts, Right, Kirito?" Klein said to Kirito. "He is right that the transmitters' signals work just like microwaves." Kirito said, "If the safety were disabled it could fry a brain," Kirito finished. "Then if we cut the power…" Klein started, but Shun interrupted him, "If we cut the power it wouldn't matter, the NerveGear has its own backup battery." Shun said grimly. Klein looked at Kirito then Shun before shaking his head, "But this is crazy, What's going on?!" Klein shouted. Shun shook his head grunting loudly. "Unfortunately, several players' families and friends have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear." Kayaba stated, "And as a result Two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." Shun stood in utter disbelieve. "Two hundred and thirteen?" Kirito gasped, taking the words right out of Shuns' mouth. "I don't believe it!" Klein said shaking his head. "As you can see," Kayaba said pulling up many screen each showing different local even national news organizations. Shun looked between each of them, FOX, CNN, BBC.

This was happening all over the world…

"Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal." Kayaba Stated. Shun however was transfixed on one screen, it showed a brown haired, clearly middle aged woman hugging a younger girl who was crying.

"Mom, Kimiko?" Shun gasped, grabbing the attention of several players around him. "that's your mom, Syren?" Kirito silently said. Shun, Taking shaky breaths nodded his head. "I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game." Kayaba boomed. Shun clenched his fist, Kirito did the same causing both of their knuckles to turn white. "But I want you to remember this clearly, There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game." Kayaba said. A sudden chill ran down shuns spine, "No way to revive someone?" he thought. "If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be lost forever." Kayaba stated. This revelation caused Shun to release his fist. "And simultaneously, The NerveGear will fry your brain." Kayaba said lowly. Shun gasped, images of getting killed flooded his mind his sisters being alone with no brother dying a meaningless death all because of some bastard in a game. "No…" Shun said to himself, "I refuse," he said, "I will not die here, I will make it out, I will…I will see my family again." He vowed to himself. Kirito looked at Shun unsure of what he was saying. "There is only one means of escape." Kayaba started, "To finish the game." Shun finished silently. Kayaba opened a map, which showed the entirety of Aincrad. "You are presently on the lowest floor," He said. "If you make your way through the dungeon, and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level." He stated, "Defeat the final boss on floor One Hundred, and you will clear the game." He stated Murmurs ran through the crowd again, but Shunkei didn't care, his thoughts were with something, "One Hundred floors?" he thought, shaking his head slightly. "Clear all one hundred floors?" Klein said, That's impossible." Shun looked at him, "Not impossible, just not likely." He told him, After all, all video games get harder as you move up, if a game had only sixteen levels it would be fine, but one hundred? "The Beta testers never even made it that high!" Klein shouted towards Kayaba, who seemed to ignore him. "Finally, I have added a present from me to your item storage." Kayaba said. "Please see for yourselves." Shun immediately opened his storage. "Mirror?" Shun and Kirito said in unison. Clicking it, a small mirror appeared floating in midair; Kirito grabbed it as it started to fall. Not noticing Klein did the same. Klein was instantly engulfed in light again. "Klein?!" Shun and Kirito said. He then disappeared. Next Kirito was engulfed by the light, followed by everyone else in the crowd. One by one they all disappeared until only Shun was left having not taken out his mirror.

Shun stood alone in the now empty courtyard, When Kayaba spoke to him directly. "So you're The Wielder of The Three Swords?" he stated. Shun stood completely still, afraid of what might happen. "I hope you realize how much of a problem it is that you found those swords." He boomed as black smoke billowed out of his hood. Shun tensed up, if his hair wasn't already silver, it would be now. Utter terror flowed through Shun, he felt a very cold chill go down his spine, it felt like someone was freezing his back. "I should kill you, but I won't." Kayaba said. Shun still didn't dare to move. "Because of you, this little game suddenly became more interesting, so I shall let you live and I will allow your weapons to be used." Kayaba boomed, opening the main menu, and then the game's master directory "May I see your swords?" he asked in a voice that would come from a nightmare. Shunkei, frozen stiff nodded slightly and opened his menu. Pulling up item storage Shun quickly equipped his Sword of Seals, as soon as he did it floated off of his lower back and into Kayaba's giant hand. Shun did the same with Ragnell and The Falchion and The Shield of Seals, each floating off of Shunkei and into Kayaba's hand. Kayaba instantly crushed the three swords and inserted the pixels that were left of the swords into the game's Directory. Shun stood in silence, his best chance of survival were gone, but suddenly his item menu opened and there were the three swords, as if nothing had happened to them. "I have taken the liberty of adding the swords to the game's main coding but have limited them to only one copy of them, no one else can receive these swords, not from a monster drop, a quest or, from a treasure chest, you have the only copies of these swords." Kayaba boomed. Shun was ecstatic, he alone would wield these and no one else would. "But, know this Shunkei," Kayaba continued, "Some will persecute you for having a sword that is not obtainable, they will call you a hacker and a cheater." He finished. Shuns' heart sank, images of Kirito and Klein turning their backs on him flooded his mind, he couldn't bear the thought of being alone in a death game. "You should use these swords only in extreme danger; here I shall supplement you with a basic one." Kayaba boomed. Suddenly a fourth sword appeared in his inventory, "A basic Silver Long Sword should do, its durability is below average but it speed, attack, and defensive capabilities are above average." Kayaba stated. Shun equipped it and swung it noticing its slight heaviness, it felt nice and even in his hands. "Ragnell is a two handed sword, but if your strength is high you can wield it, and if your strength is high and your skill is high enough, you can wield it with one hand." Kayaba stated, "But, you'll have to find a two handed sword on your own, I've already given you too much as it is." He said quietly looking down.

"Why me?" Shun said. "Kayaba looked at Shun again. "I sense a strong will inside of you, something that would be fun to experiment with." Kayaba stated matter-of-factly. "Now, use your mirror, and join the others." He boomed. Shunkei did as he was told and pulled the mirror out of his inventory, looking into it he noticed the blue light coming out of it shun stared into it, fully prepared for what was coming. "Good luck…" was the last thing he heard from Kayaba before losing consciousness.

Standing in the middle of the same courtyard with the same red hue to it next to a girl with brown hair, Shun scanned the courtyard knowing what he was looking for. Shun found it quickly, and tall red headed man with a bandanna. Running over, shun noticed something different, "Am I shorter?" he thought pushing through the crowd, looking down at his body he noticed that the muscle mass,. As he reached Klein he knew immediately that something was off. Klein's nice, even beard was replaced with an unshaven one, and Kirito… "My god, what just happened?" was all shun could say as he reached the duo. "Syren?" they both said in unison. "What?" he responded. "Look at yourself." Kirito said, pointing at the mirror in his hand. Shun did so and was shocked!

Gone were his silver straight locks of hair but in their stead were his dirty blonde straight hair the barely touched his shoulders with small bangs sweeping over his eyes. His eyes were now a deep forest green while his face didn't change much at all. "WHAT. THE. FUCK?!" He shouted, grabbing the attention of a small portion of the crowd. Shunkei looked at Klein then Kirito, "So this happened to you to?" He asked. When both answered with a nod shun sighed heavily. "Great, just FUCKING GREAT!" shun shouted putting great emphasis on the swear. "How does the game even know what we look like?" Shun asked angrily. "Well," Kirito began, "The NerveGear covers your head in with a high density signaling device." Kirito said. "So it can see what your face looks like, right." Shun added, finishing the explanation. "But our height and body shape, that shouldn't be covered by the sensor, right?" Shun said. When we first put on The NerveGear it had us calibrate it, right?" Klein said. "You had to touch your body all over." Klein said giving an example. "Mine was already calibrated; I got mine from a friend who let me use his when he didn't get into the beta." Shun said. Kirito looked at Shun, "You were in the beta?" He asked. "Kind of, yeah…" Shun said, trailing off at the end. "But anyway," he yelped, trying to change the subject, "The game got our height and body shape from the calibration sequence…" He finished. "Seems that way…" Kirito said lowly. "But…But…"Klein started, "Why do all this?"

Kirito pointed towards Kayaba who was now closer than he was before. "I'm sure he'll tell us." Kirito said. Seeing him again, Shun tensed slightly, noticing several other players shiver, but instead, Shun felt a sudden warmth come over him, as if Kayaba was telling him "Do not be afraid, you have the power to save everyone."

"Right now, you're probably wondering, Why?" Kayaba said, Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, Developer of The NerveGear and Sword Art Online, do all this?"

"Damn right I'm wondering!" Shun shouted earning shouts of agreement and whoops from the crowd. Suddenly a cool wind blew hard that instantly shut everyone up. "My goal has already been achieved." Kayaba boomed. "I created Sword Art Online for ONE reason…" he claimed.

"To create this world and intervene in it." "Damn you, Kayaba!" Kirito said silently, clenching his fists tightly. "And now, it is complete." Kayaba stated. Shun stood next to Kirito, watching him shake with rage, Shun thought "Why am I not doing the same, I understand what he's feeling, but I'm not doing what he's doing."

"This ends the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Kayaba stated, "Good Luck, Players." He finally said he faded away. The red sky clicked away into a regular twilight lit sky as the red hue disappeared. The courtyard was silent as everyone besides shun stood or collapsed in utter disbelief.

Shun stood, his eyes closed his head towards the ground.

"This is real," Shun heard Kirito say silently, "The genius who created The NerveGear and created a completely virtual world, I admired him, so I can tell," Kirito said while Shun listened intensely. "Everything he just said," Kirito continued Shun joined in, "Is completely and utterly true." Kirito looked at shun without moving and continued, "If I die in this game, I will die in real life!" Shun repeated the monologue word for word in unison beside Kirito, "IF I die in this game," He started, "I'L GO DOWN KICKING AND SCREAMING!" Shun said with a low growl.

Suddenly a small scream broke the silence. "No!" a small girl screamed. Suddenly the crowd roared to life screaming "LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!" noticing a small girl with brown hair sitting on the ground in shock. Shun started to move towards her. He instinctively grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She didn't even respond as if she was in a comatose state. "Hey!" Shun yelled at the girl who still only looked at the mirror as if wanting to be sucked into it. Shun, breathing heavily, heaved the girl into a bridal carrying style, not even noticing that he dropped his own mirror in the process. Shun ran back towards Kirito and Klein as the crowd continued to be in an uproar. Kirito, walking behind Klein whispered in his ear which caused Klein to nod. Kirito then walked over to Shun, "Follow me." He said, not caring to take notice of the girl in his arms. Before Shun could respond, Kirito broke out into a sprint, running for the closest exit.

Minutes later, they had reached a dimly lit street with Shun still carrying the girl who had fallen asleep, nuzzling into his chest, snoring lightly. Kirito started to speak, "Listen to me," he started, "I'm heading to the next village right now, Come with me." He said. Shun and Klein stood in silence. "If what he said is true," Kirito added, pulling up the main menu then his map, "Then the only way to survive in this world is by making yourselves as strong as possible." He said. Shun nodded, Klein did the same. Kirito, Acknowledging their understanding continued. "The resources within a virtual MMORPG, The money and EXP we can earn, are limited." He added grimly. "So, the fields surrounding the town of beginnings will be hunted clean." Shun said. "Right, to do this efficiently, we should head to the next village now." Kirito said, "I know all the paths and dangerous areas, even at level one, I can get there safely." He finished. Klein was next to talk, "But…you know…" he started, "I spent a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game, They're out there, in the plaza, I can't leave them." He said sadly. Shun knew what he wanted to do, he completely understood. Kirito looked down at the ground sadly.

"_If it were just Klein and Syren…but one more?" _Kirito thought. "Sorry, I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I?" Klein said, sighing lightly. "So don't worry about me, go to the next village." He added with his hands on his hips. "I used to run a guild in the last game," Klein continued giving thumbs up, "I can use what you taught me to get by!" he said happily. Shun piped in breaking his silence, "I can't go either, I have to be sure that she is all right." He said motioning with his head towards the girl in his arms, "But once I make sure she can handle herself…I'll come join you!" Shun said happily. Kirito looked down, sadness slowly filling him. "All right, then let's say goodbye here." Kirito said walking away from the two. "If something happens, send me a message." "Will do." Klein said while Shun nodded. "Okay, goodbye, Klein, Syren…" Kirito said dejectedly. Shun looked at his feet, unsure if he made the right choice. "Kirito!" Klein suddenly shouted. Kirito stopped, Klein grunted and Kirito kept walking.

"You were actually pretty cute." Klein said, earning a surprised look from Kirito and Shun. "What?!" Shun said. "That's my type." Klein finished. Kirito turned around smiling, "And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!" he said back, teasing Klein. "And Syren, I always thought you were a blonde!" Kirito shot at Shun, causing Shun to sigh heavily. "Well, what are you waiting for, get out of here, Baby face!" he said jokingly. Kirito nodded walked away.

Shun looked at Klein who started back the way they came. Shun turned to follow him. As he caught up to him he lightly kicked him to get his attention. "So, where you headed now Klein?" Shun asked. "Back to the main plaza, going to find my friends," He said, "What about you?" he asked Shun, taking notice of the girl in Shuns arms. "Probably to an inn or my house, gonna let her sleep there for a while until she can handle herself then go after Kirito maybe." He answered, shifting the girl in his arms. Klein nodded as they reached a crossroad. Looking to his left, and noticing a small sign that read "Housing district" Shun looked at Klein. "This is my stop, See you later dude!" Shun said to Klein as he started down the road. Klein smiled and started back towards the main plaza.

One hour later, Shun found his house, "Open!" he said quietly and the door, recognizing his voice slowly opened the door. Stepping inside, he noticed an alarm going off. "Unidentified intruder, Is the Player: Lisbeth allowed entrance?" a loud female voice boomed.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down Serenity, she's allowed." Shun said quietly. The alarm turned off as the voice said more quietly, "Disabling countermeasures." "Sheesh, this house was expensive for a good reason, Full A.I. and Anti thiefing capabilities?" Shun said as he heaved the girl up the stairs. "I'm glad I have money." He said gloating to himself. He soon reached the master bedroom which had a huge king size bed, with a red blanket covering it, a brown headboard and pure white cloud shaped pillows. He set the girl down on the left side, covering her with the blanket as he undressed into his sleeping wear and climbed in too, trying to be as far away from her as possible without fall out of the bed. As he lay looking up at his ceiling which had a small skylight situated in it, he noticed how real everything looked, the stars, the way the moon shimmered with light, he felt amazed. But, all too soon the feelings of dread came back as flashbacks of hours before flowed into his mind again. Seeing Kayaba's dark figure, Giving him the blessings of the three swords. "Why?" he silently said to himself, "Why me?" he said as he drifted off to sleep…

Why indeed…

* * *

**Well chapter three trumps chapter 2's lengths i think... i decided to show some character development and stuff, Why Shun still has his swords even after Kayaba's speech so yeah and obviously Lisbeth is here. No real action here but there won't be for a while but next chapter will feature a lot more comedy and the chapter after that will feature some action, i already have it planned out!**

**Read, Eat, Sleep, Review!**

**-EternalEsper995**


	4. Is This a Date?

Chapter 4

Shunkei awoke, slowly eyes staring up at the skylight in the ceiling, the pink sky, signaling the sun hasn't even risen yet. Shun yawned quietly, noticed some very light breathing coming from his left side. Slowly turning his head, he noticed a brown haired girl sleeping quietly next to him using his arm as a pillow. Shun looked slightly shocked, but calmed down as he remembered the night before. _"Come to think of it, why did I grab her in the first place?"_ Shun wondered. "Eh… let her sleep, It's been a rough day for all of us." Shun quietly said, trying not to awaken his visitor. Shun slowly pulled his arm out from underneath her head as he pulled his pillow where his arm used to be. Slowly rising out of bed he went to his closet and pulled out his white robe, some pants, boots and his Iron chainmail chest piece, and equipped them. Turning back to the girl who seemed to be sleeping even more peacefully, Shun sighed, completely at awe at how cute she was. Her somewhat small frame curled up in a little ball, snoring slightly reminded him of a little kitten. Smiling, Shunkei started for the door.

Heading down the hall way, Shun went towards the front door, fully decked out with his equipment, and the three "Gifts" stored safely in his inventory, he opened the door and went out into the world, "HELLO, WORLD!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Charging down the street taking a left, Shun started down another street, somehow knowing where he was going. He kept running, never stopping for even a rest. "If I am really going to escape this hell, I'll need to get stronger, much stronger." Shun said in between breaths, "And I know just how to do that!" Shun continued, grinning a toothy grin. Heading out into the fields again, Shun looked at his level, "Still level one huh?" he said to himself, "Oh well, I won't be for long!" Shun said energetically. Targeting the first boar he saw shun equipped the Silver Sword, noticing it appear on his back, shun picked up a small rock. Using a trick Kirito showed him the day before, Shun aimed the rock at the boar, who was not even noticing shun. Shun threw the rock, square on the boar backside. The boar let out a small cry as it turned around, its eyes red with anger. Shun drew The Silver Sword from his back and pointed the sword at the charging boar, "You're my first target, Frenzy Boar, welcome to DIE!" Shun said in a dramatic voice. The boar continued to charge ignoring the threat. Shun felt his body surge with energy, he slowly lowered his sword as the boar drew closer and closer, huffing loudly. Shun grunted as he sidestepped the boar, only to kick its backside causing it to stumble slightly, "Here, piggy, piggy, piggy!" Shun taunted, stabbing his sword into the ground. "Come on, I'll even give you a free shot!" he continued to taunt. The boar did a complete 180 and charged again at shun. Mere seconds before the boar made contact with shun, Shun side stepped again and stuck a leg out, tripping the boar. Watching the boar tumble on the ground Shunkei folded his arms, "Alright, that's enough warm up." Shun said cracking his neck and picking up his sword. The boar turned again and charged, "I'm beginning to see a pattern here." shun said. The boar continued to charge while Shun stood still, sword raised in front of him. "GGRRAAAHH!" Shun shouted as he slashed vertically on the boar, splitting it in half. The two halves of the boar flew past shun before they both disappeared with a small explosion of pixels. "Shun raised his sword and set it on his shoulder before looking out in the field, noticing more boar. "This is gonna be a good hunt…" Shun said lowly before charging towards a boar.

*A Few Hours Later*

The sun was now high in the sky as players were now in the main plaza, chatting and deciding what to do next. Meanwhile Shun slightly battered with holes in his robe and pants, dragging his sword along the ground lazily. Shun slowly walked to a local restaurant desperately wanting something to drink. Reaching the restaurant, Shun pulled back noren and stepped inside. "Welcome! Come in!" An old lady shouted as shun walked in. "Hello!" shun said lowly. "My, you don't look too good, would you like a seat?" the old lady asked Concern in her voice. "Heh…yeah I would." Shun said smirking slightly. _"She's only an A.I yet, she's just like my grandmother, caring, gentle, I miss my family and it's only been a day."_ Shun wondered to himself. Walking to an empty booth and taking a seat, Shun ordered a Strawberry drink paying the woman 15 gold coins, Shun noticing a boy and a girl in another booth two rows behind him. "Hey, did you hear about the guy in the fields?" a patron of the restaurant said to a girl sitting across from him in the booth. "What man?" the girl said. "There was this man with blonde hair and a white robe killing every single boar in the fields!" the boy said amazement in his voice. "WHAT? When was this?!" the girl said completely interested. "Just this morning, he cleared out the whole fields in a few hours!" the boy said, amazement still present in his voice. "They're only just now respawning!" the boy said. Shun was silently listening, trying to keep a low profile. "Here you go, Dearie." the old lady said handing Shun his drink. Shun grunted slightly and took his drink. Taking a swallow and feeling the cool rush of the drink going down his throat. "I think that may have been a bit greedy," The girl in the other booth said, "Hogging all that experience to himself?" the girl said again, slight annoyance in her voice. "Yeah," The boy started, "That guy is just a cheater!" the boy shouted slamming his cup on the table. "If I ever see him I'll…I'll." The boy trailed off on the end trying to come up with something. Shun smiled slightly, having heard enough and thought of something clever. "You'll rip out his heart and devour his soul?" Shun said keeping his head down. "The boy raised an eyebrow, before nodding his head. "Yeah that's what I'll do!" the boy shouted. Shun smiled, standing up slowly "Well I'm right here!" Shun said turning with his arms open. The boy and the girl both gasped, "Uh…Uh…" The boy gasped, shaking heavily. "Heh, all bark no bite…Typical." Shun said shaking his head. The boy slowly clenched his hands, breathing sharply, "I'll show you my bite!" The boy yelled charging at shun with a small knife. Shun raised his hand and caught the boys hand mid swing, he then reached down and grabbed the boys leg with his free hand and pulled his leg out from under him. As the boy started to fall on his back shun released the boys arm and grabbed his leg and pulled the boy towards him. The boy seemed to float for a second before receiving a quick punch to the face which caused him to hit the ground hard head first. The boy lay on the ground in a small crumpled heap, while Shun turned towards the door. "You do realize that the towns are a safe zone right? You won't feel much pain." Shun said lowly, reaching the noren and pulling it back.

Walking into the streets, Shun walked towards the housing district.

*Minutes later*

Reaching his house, Shun opened the door, only to see a brown haired girl standing in his hallway rubbing away the sleepiness in her eyes. "Yo, so you're finally awake." Shun drawled still tired from his battles. At this the girl eyes shot open at looked straight at Shun. "If you want food well there is a nice restaurant nearby, I don't stock up often, and speaking of it I really should start now that you're here." Shun rambled on while the girl silently approached shun. "…and I really don't like shopping cause I can never decide on what kind of meat I should get and what's on sale and…when did you get in front of me?" Shun rambled before he noticed that she was in his face. "Why am I here?" the girl silently said. "Be a bit more specific, I'm not sure why I'm here but God works in mysterious ways." Shun said half sarcastically. "Why was I in your bed?" the girl said annoyance rising in her voice. "Ohhh… well you see when What's-his-face with the cloak trapped us in this game I, for some stupid reason decided to grab you and take you away from the chaos," Shun explained, "I mean you were just sitting on the ground in total shock and with everyone running around, it looked like you were going to be trampled." Shun finished. "Then again," Shun started again, "Towns are safe zones, so it wouldn't have even mattered." Shun said realization in his voice. "But anyway, I took you home, by the way you are incredibly cute when you're asleep, but I took you home set you in my bed and we slept and woke up!" Shun finished, "That answers your question, right?" Shun asked. The girl responded with a swift punch to Shuns face sending him flying out his front door, tumbling down his front steps and into the street. "WE DID WHAT?!" the girl screamed anger clearly in her voice. Shun sat up holding his head in slight pain. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR? ALL I SAID WAS WE SLEPT TOGETHER!" Shun yelled. The girl turned bright red as she charged down the steps weapon drawn. "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" Shun yelled turning to run.

*Minutes Later*

Shun was wildly run through the streets of the shopping district. _"Why is she mad at me, if anything she should be grateful!"_ Shun thought to himself. Shun looked back, having taken many twisting alleys and jumping through stalls, he finally felt that he was safe. Shun heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he turn walk calmly down the street to catch his breath. Suddenly a small butter knife came flying at shun missing his face and embedding into a wall. Shun turned slowly as he saw the girl standing angrily next to a cowering shop owner. "KNIVES?! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET KNIVES?!" Shun screamed before looking at the shops sign "Ye old Kitchen Shoppe, well that explains everything, AND WHO NAMES THEIR SHOP THAT?!" Shun stated. Shun Looked at the girl again, this time holding a large butcher's knife. "AW COME ON!" Shun screamed annoyance in his voice. Shun ran again, pushing past players and NPCs. Dodging knives barely missing his head shun continued to run, "She can only carry so many at a time right?" Shun said to himself. Shun was right, before he knew it the girl was out of knives. Seeing the fields, shun sprinted straight for it.

*Minutes later, outside on the fields*

Shun was breathing heavily his Silver Sword drawn at the ready facing the entrance to town. Seeing the girl run out of the gate and look around shun called out to her "Hey, crazy woman over here!" Shun yelled as he pulled up his menu. Challenging the girl to a duel. "Now if I remember correctly," Shun shouted across the field to the girl who was slowly approaching shun, "Your name is Lisbeth I think that's what my housecarl called you." Shun said his housecarl being Serenity. "Well then, Lisbeth I challenge you to a duel, Half Loss duel, does that sound okay?" Shun stated excitement in his voice. As he said that Lisbeth nodded her head as the invitation to the duel popped in front of her. She almost immediately accepted it and drew her own weapon. _Raising_ his weapon shun breathed slowly closing his eyes. _"60 seconds that's how much time I have to prepare." _Shun thought, _"I've never fought another human, hopefully she won't go overboard and kill Me." _he continued,_ "three, two, _ONE!" Shun said opening his eyes and charging at Lisbeth. Performing a quick sword thrust, Shun managed to connect with Lisbeths War Hammer, bouncing back from the hit shun put his sword in a defensive position waiting for her move. Lisbeth quickly struck down on Shunkei only for him to jump back. The hammer, having missed hit the ground with a dull thud, Shun smiled but it quickly faded as Lisbeth picked up the hammer and charged at Shun, swinging quickly. "Oh, well this is unexpected!" Shun said in between hammer swings dodging them with a few grazing his hair. "Do you ever get tired?" shun said still not being able to go on the offensive. "I'm not entirely sure why you're this mad but, JESUS!" Shun yelled having caught a hammer to his side. falling down and clutching his sides, Shun growled before grabbing his sword and rising up and slashing Lisbeth across the chest. "Believe in an eye for an eye?!" Shun growled. "GGGRRRRAAAHH!" Shun shouted swing his sword. Both combatants were now matching blow for blow land small scratches and bruises on each other, each moving faster and faster, soon people in the surrounding fields gathered around them watching in pure amazement. Shunkei was now on full offensive, but barely any of his attacks were connecting. Lisbeth was now on the defensive, her anger was clearly subsiding as she saw the skill of her opponent, before the unthinkable happened. "*_**FTING!* **_A sudden high pitched sword clash rang out as shuns silver sword snapped into. Constant hitting against the flat part of the hammer caused the Silver Swords durability to wear down until it was depleted. The two sword halves shattered into pixels, as shun looked down into his had as what remained of the sword disappeared. Shun slumped his hands and stared at the ground as Lisbeth stood still hammer still raised. The crowd looked on shock and awe upon their face. Shun started to shake growling lowly Lisbeth lowered her Hammer "Um…are you okay?" she asked confusion and concern in her voice. "NOW WHY'D YOU GO AND DO THAT FOR?!" Shun yelled, anger present. "ME! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CHALLENGED ME!" Lisbeth countered. "YEAH SURE, I'M THE ONE TO BLAME, I MEAN WHO USES HAMMERS?!" Shun shot back. The crown dispersed quickly not wanting to be brought into it. "I NEEDED THAT YOU KNOW!" shun shouted motioning to the place where his sword halve used to be. "I DON'T CARE! YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT TO ME!" Lisbeth screamed, "Wait, that is why you tried to kill me? What did I do?" Shun said suddenly calm. "YOU SAID WE SLEPT TOGETHER! YOU BASICALLY RAPED ME!" Lisbeth screamed. "I didn't rape you, I saved you…kind of." Shun said trying to calm her down. "So wait, you didn't do anything to me?" Lisbeth asked, dropping her hammer. "Shun shook his head and walked towards her. Lisbeth turned red again and picked up her hammer. Shun walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder, "This is gonna be a long story but I hope this clears everything up for you." Shun said.

"Oh wait, before I begin, hit me!" Shun said retracting his hand from her shoulder. Lisbeth didn't hesitate and socked Shun on the cheek.

***WINNER, Lisbeth!***

*One Hour later*

"And that's about it!" Shun said happily. Lisbeth was speechless, "So, you more or less acted on impulse?" Lisbeth asked. Shun grunted nodding his head. "I'M SO SORRY FOR ATTACKING YOU!" Lisbeth apologized profusely bowing low. Shun crossed his hands in an X formation, "You have no reason to apologize, I would have done it in your position!" Shun said smiling. "I'll make it up to you! I'll repair your sword!" Lisbeth said perking up. Again Shun crossed his arms, "You don't have to do that!" Lisbeth seemed puzzled, "But that was your only sword right, and by the looks of it, it seemed rare!" Lisbeth said dejectedly. "Well, it was rare, but I have replacements even more rare than that one." Shun said before clasping his hands onto his mouth. "You do?" Lisbeth asked her eyes lighting up. "Umm…forget I said that!" Shun said turning away laughing weakly. "Well I suppose you won this duel, after all you did break my sword." Shun said quickly trying to change the subject. "So, why don't I treat you to dinner?" Shun said. "WHAT, WHY?!" Lisbeth shouted alarm in her voice. Shun crossed his arms smiling, "Call it the winner's spoils!" Shun said his smile growing wider.

*Minutes Later*

Resting in a high class restaurant, eating across from each other in a booth Shun could tell that something was bothering Lisbeth. "Alright, whats wrong?" Shun asked. "NOTHING, it's just that this place is so high class, and barely anyone's here, how do you have so much money?!" Lisbeth asked inquisitively. Shun took a swallow of his drink, "Well, I was in the BETA, so I amassed a large quantity of Col, when I knew the BETA was ending I paid real world money to keep my in game money and some of my clothing." Shun said recalling the money he spent. "In my opinion it was worth it!" Lisbeth stated cheerfully before going back to her food. "Hey, have you ever been to the States?" Shun asked, looking up from his food, "No I haven't, I heard that it is incredibly polluted!" Lisbeth said laughing, "Not really, only Los Angeles, Indiana's not so bad!" Shun said laughing. "Oh, so you've been there?" Lisbeth asked raising an eyebrow. "Yep I lived there for four years before coming back; I was on an exchange student program." Shun answered. "I may not be the most honorable Japanese dude around."Shun said sheepishly.

Shun then stood up having finished his food. "Well that was good food." Shun said patting his stomach. Lisbeth stood up to stretching. "Well, I suppose you want to fall asleep after eating so much food right?" Shun asked Lisbeth, who nodded. "Well, if you want you can bunk with me again, although I'll understand if you don't want to." Shun said. Lisbeth seemed to ponder her options, "Yeah I'll bunk with you again, but tomorrow you'll have to treat me with a shopping trip!" Lisbeth stated hands on her hips. "BUT I JUST DROPPED TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COL ON DINNER ALONE, I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY YOU KNOW!" Shun said astonished. Shun sighed feeling his pocket become lighter by the second. "What else is there to do anyway?" Shun gasped,"You'll see tomorrow!" Lisbeth said starting for the door. "Wait up!" Shun said following her.

*Minutes Later*

"And it was so stinky too!" Shun finished causing Lisbeth to laugh. Shun laughed alongside her before skidding to a halt. "What's wrong Sy?" Lisbeth turned asking. "I just realized something, we just kind of went on a date!" Shun stated wide eyed. "WHAT, NO WE DIDN'T, WE JUST…" Lisbeth yelled turning a bright shade of red. "Yeah, we did, I mean I treated you to dinner, we are laughing on our way to MY HOUSE and, well I guess that's about it." Shun said trailing off at the end. "Well, should we stop?" Lisbeth asked still red. Shun put a hand on his chin as a question mark appeared above his head. "Did you just use an Emote? Lisbeth asked small annoyance in her voice, "Well that's all I could think of to use at this point!" Shun said. "But, no we shouldn't stop, cause in all honesty, this is the most fun I've had in a while even though this is only a game!" Shun said slowly catching up to Lisbeth, "And besides, even though this was kind of sorta not exactly a date, I sure feels like one lucky dude to be walking next to a cute girl!" Shun said grinning a toothy grin causing Lisbeth to turn a bright shade of red again.

"Oh, and by the way, have you ever thought of dyeing your hair pink?" Shun asked.

* * *

**Well new chapter up, eat it Catsy! YOU ASS, sorry i just really needed to get that out of the way. Now, me and him had a whole argument and he was being a pompous know it all asshole so yeah, he's probably going to die in the story and now i feel childish, BUT I DON'T CARE! I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!111!1! sorry... Anyway, next chapter will be a shopping spree chapter and stuff and these chapters are short and i apologize but now that i'm out of school i can devote more time to this!**

**Constructive criticism is welcome if you don't enjoy the series don't say anything unless it is a suggested way that i can improve.  
See you next chapter!**


	5. Laughter In The Night

Chapter 5

Shunkei awoke blinking away the sleepiness in his eyes and looked to his left seeing Lisbeth using his arm as a pillow and drooling on his arm. _"I'm so not going to let her live this one down." _Shun thought to himself. Using his free arm to lightly shake her awake, Lisbeth slowly opened her eyes before yawning, "Good morning, you're drooling." Shun said in a mocking tone. Lisbeth sat up quickly and wiped her mouth blushing. "Either you're very hungry or you were having a really good dream." Shun said sitting up as well. "Shut up!" was all Lisbeth had to say. Shun swung his legs over the edge of his bed and opened the main menu. "What are you doing?" Lisbeth asked, "Messaging a friend, seeing if I can get out of this mess." Shun replied, ignoring the hole Lisbeth was burning into the back of his head. Selecting Kirito's name and then selecting **'Message Player?' **Shun started to type his message.

Syren:_ Hey what's up?_

Kirito: _Nothing much…You?_

Syren: _Well, the girl is okay, turns out her name is Lisbeth and stuff, might need to stay up here a little while longer Sorry dude :(_

Kirito: _It's cool I haven't run into any trouble on my end anyway, I've leveled up quite a bit though somewhere in the 20s._

Syren: _Holy crap dude I only just made it to level 10!_

Kirito: _You'll catch but…maybe_

Syren: _Shut up, well any news from the front lines?_

Kirito:_ They still haven't found the boss room, and more people have died._

Shun clenched his fist in anger, before mentally sighing and unclenched his fist.

Syren: _Fuck, okay well I have to go shopping with Liz so I gotta go._

Kirito:_ Shopping? I didn't think you were into shopping…besides for food anyway._

Syren:_ Well, she suckered me into it, kinda and I don't just shop for food…I need armor too, ya know! :-p_

Kirito: _lol Alright, TTYL_

Syren: _Don't ever type that again -_-_

Shun closed the messaging window and turned to Lisbeth, "More people have died and they still haven't found the first boss room." Shun said sorrowfully. Lisbeth looked down at the ground in sadness. "It's only been two days since we were trapped how have so many people died already?" She asked sadly. Shun shrugged his shoulders "I don't know, maybe they were careless or they didn't believe Kayaba…" Shun muttered. Shun then stood up and op "Well, enough of that, let's go do what you want." Shun said, putting on a fake smile Opening his closet and selecting his regular outfit, Shun started for the door to the main hallway.

*Minutes Later*

Shun was leaning against a wall watching Lisbeth happily browse through stalls and shops. "you almost done? Shun shouted at Liz who was still bouncing between shops. "Hey, this is my money after all, I can't get everything!" Shun shouted over the crowd. Liz seemed to ignore him and continued to shop. "Oh boy, I feel my Col just disappearing by the second…" Shun sighed, "So, can we stop by an armor shop soon?" Shun again tried to shout but having lost sight of Lisbeth he was shouting in vain.

_Oh boy, I think I just lost about a four thousand pounds in Col…"_

*A Couple Hours Later*

Shun was now carrying multiple boxes and bags filled to the brim with things Liz had bought. "Did you even hear what I said earlier?" Shun said craning his neck over the huge boxes. "Huh, What did you say Sy?" Lisbeth said turning her head to Shun. "Never mind." Shun said heaving a heavy sigh, never in all his life, virtual or otherwise was he entirely THIS bored. "Well we now only have a few shops to visit and then some food, I suppose you'll pay for that too, well anyway a few more shops, some food then home!" Lisbeth rambled while Shun completely zoned out on the conversation.

"_At least I can still nod like I'm listening."_

Shun, whether he wanted to or not, stuck with Lisbeth from shop to shop with each shop visited the pile of things shun carried grew larger until they stopped at a small outside restaurant for food before heading home. "HOLY CRAP ON A STICK, you do realize I don't have infinite pockets of money, right?" Shun screamed from behind the stacks upon stacks of things he was carrying. "Stop complaining, you agreed to do this remember?" Lisbeth shouted back annoyance clear inn her voice. "More like forced to do this." Shun said under his breath. Reaching his house shun carelessly dropped the items and collapsed on his front step. "Hey don't break those!" Lisbeth chastised. Shun raised his hand shakily and started to pull up the middle finger before retracting it

_That was close!" _Shun thought.

Opening his inventory and looking through it seeing more things that Lisbeth had bought, Shun sighed and began emptying it. Selecting each item and dropping them in front of him Shun began noticing a lot of repeating items. "Hey, why did you buy so much iron and steel…and is that silver? What is all this for?" Shun asked, eyes suddenly perking up. "Well," Lisbeth began before noticing something's she was certain she didn't buy, "What are those?"

Shun was still lazily removing things from his inventory, until his eyes drifted to the pile of things in front of him. Seeing three swords and a shield staring him in the face, Shun became suddenly alert and reached for the items, but Lisbeth was closer and grabbed Ragnell and began to examine it.

"This doesn't look like any weapon you can get from a shop, and judging by its craftsmanship, I'd guess it's a high level drop, but you're only level seven so there is no way you could have gotten this so early." Lisbeth stated still examining the sword. Dropping it carelessly and picking up a new one, this one being the Falchion. "This one…seems familiar for some reason," Lisbeth started before picking up The Sword of Seals, "This one looks familiar too, strange." Lisbeth said eyes fixated on the swords. Shun meanwhile, picked up the Shield and hid it behind his back and did the same with Ragnell. He then tapped Lisbeth on the shoulder, "Um, can we continue this later? We need to get this stuff inside." Shun said chuckling sheepishly. Lisbeth looked at shun and back at the swords, "Right…" She said quietly before setting down the swords and picking up a box.

****A Few Hours Later, Twilight***

Sighing heavily after finally finding a place for the last box, Shun sat down on his bed and looked at what used to be his bedroom which was now a sea of boxes.

"_I have now forgotten what my floor looks like."_

"So about those weapons…" Lisbeth started, sitting down on the bed across from shun. "Uhh… what weapons?" Shun said nervously. Lisbeth got a very serious face and leaned in closer to shun, "Don't play dumb." She said fiercely. Shun flinched before closing his eyes and falling back onto a pillow. "You know I saw those swords…and that's my pillow." Lisbeth stated.

Shun grabbed "his" pillow and swung it onto his face. He then said something inaudible which caused Lisbeth to cock an eyebrow. "What?"

Taking the pillow off his face and setting it beside him Shun repeated what he said.

"My business is mine and your business is yours." he said flatly.

Lisbeth responded with a pillow to his face. "Well, that was a bit uncalled for." Shun said behind the pillow. "Well, you won't tell me how you got them!" Lisbeth shouted.

Shun smirked having taken the pillow off his face, "In due time Liz, in due time." he said shaking his head.

"Not soon enough!" Lisbeth said lying down next to Shun.

Shun shuffled farther away from Liz, not wanting to be too close. Shun yawned looked over to Lisbeth who was still wide eyed and awake staring intently at shun. Shun blinked a couple of times before putting on a nervous face, "W-what? Why are you staring at me, it's a little creepy." Shun said nervously. "No reason." Liz said before turning over and turning off the lights, "Night." She said calmly. Shun raised an eyebrow before falling asleep as well.

***Three And a Half Weeks Later, Mid Afternoon***

Shun kicked opened the front door to his house and went into the kitchen.

"That was a bitch." Shun drawled out sitting down and slamming his head on the dinner table. Lisbeth followed but not as graceless. Having finished all the "Low level" quests early on in his journey Shun was quickly moving up in the games difficulty. "Well, we got your stone, but you never told me why you needed this, by the way." Shun said picking his head up from the table. "Well…" Lisbeth began, "It's for a special project of mine." Shun looked up at her before losing interest and face planting the table again. "Are you that tired?" Lisbeth asked concern in her voice. "Yeah I am, and I'm not sure why you're tired." Shun said his face on his arms.

"What do you mean?" Lisbeth said slight anger in her voice. Shun lifted his head slightly with a bored expression.

"No offense, but you hardly attacked it." Shun said flatly. "Because YOU wouldn't let me!" Lisbeth exclaimed. "You had plenty of opportunities but you were slow to act on them." Shun shot back waving his hand, "And besides, judging from how you handled yourself in our little duel I'd say you aren't much of a combatant anyway." Shun flippantly stated. "If I remember correctly I kicked your ass!" Lisbeth stated confidently. "And if I remember correctly you said you would repair my sword." shun said mocking her confidence. "

You said I didn't have to!" "Well I changed my mind!" The two bickered back and forth for an hour, each passing minute it got more scornful until Shun decided to leave for "Some air".

"_I should have known she would win, women are natural arguers." _Shun thought absently to himself walking to no place in particular. "_Jeez, how do I get myself into these messes, my stupid impulsiveness should die in a hole or something because if I didn't do this I wouldn't have another mouth to feed and I would have been able to go with Kirito." _Shun thought, having stopped in a small tavern. Staring into his drink absentmindedly listening to the chatter of other players around him, Shun continued his internal conversation. "_Why don't I ever meet any nice girls?" _"_**But you have to admit she is pretty cute." **_Suddenly a feminine voice rang out loudly.

Shun shot his head up and looked around him quickly, "The hell?" he said quietly "_**She's got a nice face, a pretty smile and a cute body. I'm surprised you haven't done anything to her yet." **_There it was again that mysterious voice Shun continued to look around wildly, unsure of where the voice was coming from. "Who the hell is talking to me?" Shun said quietly turning back to his drink. _**"Come on, man don't tell me you've never thought about doing nasty things to her?" **_The mysterious voice asked. Shun looked at his drink before downing the rest of it in one shot. _**"Impressive." **_

"JUST WHO THE HELL IS TALKING TO ME?!" Shun shouted at the top of his lungs causing the small tavern to go quiet earning stares from everyone in the tavern. Shun turned around quickly causing everyone to go back to what they were doing. "Hey buddy, are you okay?" a patron of the tavern asked Shun placing a hand on his shoulder. Shun nodded slowly, Shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder before standing up and heading for the door.

Shun was slowly walking back to his house not wanting to think about what happened in the bar. Silently approaching his house Shun looked through the kitchen window, "weird, the lights are still on." Shun said to himself. Shun silently walked up the steps on his porch, "Maybe she forgot about them, whatever I'll just add that to her rent." Shun said chuckling at his little joke.  
Shun slowly creaked open his front door. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Shun screamed as he walked inside his house.

Sizeable holes covered a portion of his was as well as his floor, things were thrown about and some flat out broken. "No no no no NNOO!" Shun screamed clutching his head, "WHAT THE FUCK!" Shun screamed again. "Liz!" Shun shouted menacingly "Lizbeth, WHAT THE HELL?" Shun shouted again getting more angry. When his anger subsided slightly shun began to think _"No way she would do this, she wouldn't be THIS cruel, right?" _Shun thought to himself.

Shun stood in silence waiting for a reply, "So you talk when you want to, huh? Noted." Shun said referring to the voice from the bar. Shun began to walk through his house each room not as badly damaged as the hallway and some not even touched at all. "What the hell happened?" Shun asked himself as he moved into his bedroom which seemed the most badly damaged besides the hallway. "Seems like it started here…" Shun said silently to himself.

***New Message***

Shun noticed the alert appear on his HUD. He then quickly opened it, "Liz…" Shun gasped out as he noticed who it came from.

"_Help…"_

Shun stared at the message "Help…Wha- I need more than this Liz." Shun mumbled.

"_**If it ain't obvious, she was taken." **_The voice suddenly stated. "So you're back?" _**"Never left."**_

Shun sighed heavily, _**"It's not like I can go anywhere; I'm in your head…Kind of"**_

"_Shut up…"_ Shun mentally growled. _**"Well fine, I guess you don't want MY help!" **_The voice said angrily. Shun perked up, _"So you know what happened?"_

The voice sighed heavily, _**"Look on your wall, dumbass…"**_ The voice said smart-alecky.

Shun then stood up quickly and slowly scanned what was left of his room.

_**Look hard and hopefully you'll see it."**_

Shun then stopped and noticed it, a giant coffin with a wide grin etched into his wall. "What the hell?" Shun gasped out. Shun looked the symbol over several times before noticing letters scrawled underneath the symbol.

"L.C. Who the- What the hell are they?" Shun asked, _"What does L.C. mean?" _Shun said mentally repeating the question to the voice. The voice however didn't respond, "_Hello? Ghostie? HELLO?!" _Shun asked, _"Don't just disappear on me now, come on, I know you're there, you're in my head you can't hide!" _Shun mentally screamed.

Shun waited but didn't get a response. Shun stared at the symbol when it suddenly lit up practically blinding Shun. Shielding his eyes against the light Shun stood in silence as the symbol continued to glow before it slowly stopped.

Shun backed up and slid down his bed until he hit the floor.

"The hell was that all about?" Shun asked staring at the symbol.

"_Did you even catch any of that?" _Shun mentally asked the voice who he dubbed "Ghostie".

_**Look, just because I'm in your head doesn't mean I see everyth"**_ "Ghostie" started before cutting off into..

"Static?" Shun questioned, "How do I even…" Shun started before he heard an unfamiliar sound, slowly rising in volume. The sound grew louder and louder until it became clearly audible.

"Laughter?"

Suddenly, the sound spiked, very loud maniacal laughter soon flooded the room. It grew louder and more insane as more voices joined in the laughter. Shun covered his ears and shut his eyes, trying to Shut out the laughter, "_Too. loud. Too. FUCKING. LOUD!" _Shun mentally screamed, his head throbbing in pain. The laughter seemed to grow louder and sound more insane.

"_**Come and find us…Come and find us…You'll be a nice addition to our Collection Shunkei!" **_A dark voice screamed very overshadowing the laughter slightly.

"How do you know my name?" Shun tried to scream over the laughing, but was still overshadowed. _**"We know all about you, Shunkei. Your secrets are known between us! We have been watching you for quite some time…What would you like your coffin made out of?"**_

The voice said forebodingly. Loud laughter still rocked Shun's head. Grimacing, Shun squeezed his eyes shut harder and stood up slowly only to be pushed back down onto his knees. "_**WE DIDN'T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO STAND!" **_The voice said angrily _"w-What, how are they…" _Shun thought, only for the voice to cut off his thoughts, "_**You want to save her, don't you?" **_The voice said with the laughter still present. _**Well you better hurry, She's getting fit for her funeral clothing now! haHAHAHAHAHA!" **_The voice stated before fading into the laughter which slowly faded away.

Shun kneeled on the ground breathing heavily, in total shock of what happened. _**"What the heck just happened? Syren, are you okay?!" **_"Ghostie" suddenly returned, worried about what had happened. _**"I lost conne-err…I lost you, what happened Syren?" **_"Ghostie" asked worriedly. "Laughing…" Shun said lowly still grasping his head _**"Laughing? What happened?" **_

Shun then slowly stood up and opened his inventory, completely ignoring "Ghostie". pulling out some old paper and a quill Shun began drawing the symbol that was still etched into his wall _**"Hey, what are you doing?" **_"Shut up…" Shun said harshly before going back to his drawing.

Finishing quickly Shun sat down on his bed, examining his rendition of the symbol and the one found on his wall, "Perfect…" he muttered before returning the drawing to his inventory. _**What did you just draw?" **_"Ghostie" asked inquisitively, Shun continued to stare at the symbol on the wall before pointing at it, "That…" he said seriously, _**"And that would be?" **_"Ghostie" asked curiously. Shun blinked, "You can't see it?" he asked. "_**Nope…" **_She responded. "THEN HOW DID YOU NOTICE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Shun asked annoyed, _**I sensed it…"**_

Shun blinked twice, "What?" he asked._** "Look all I see is darkness, every play Assassin's creed? Think of my sense as "Eagle vision" or whatever it's called…" "**_Ghostie" responded equally as annoyed as Shun. "How do you pull that off when NOTHING like that exists in SAO?" Shun asked, _**"It takes a lot of skill, determination, and skill, little bro!" **_"Ghostie" said in a cocky tone. "You listed the same thing twice…and did you just call me "Little bro"? Last I checked you're just a voice in my head." Shun said. "Ghostie" then gasped, _**"Forget I said that…"**_

"I'll try too but no promises…"

Shun then fell back onto his bed and closed his eyes, only to see a blue young woman who looked in her mid-twenties with shoulder length hair standing with her arms crossed over her chest, _**"You know, you still haven't told me what happened."**_ The figure said, "And who are you?" Shun said lazily, too tired to open his eyes even though his brain screamed to do so. _**"I'm…Ghostie, as you like to call me."**_ She responded, "Well then, you tell me your name and I'll tell you what happened." Shun drawled out, his sleepiness taking hold of him. _**"Cortana…" **_The figure said jokingly, chuckling lightly. Shun however was practically asleep, the day's events wore on him greatly. "Corta…na." Shun muttered before falling asleep, snoring lightly.

Meanwhile, "Cortana" chuckled lightly, walking over to shun she examined his "Mental" sleeping form _**"You sleep as peacefully as I remember…Shun."**_ She said rubbing his cheek.

"Ragnell...fire…Aether." Shun muttered in his sleep.

She sighed before disappearing…

Meanwhile in the "Eastern Fields" a group of people wearing dark robes were standing on a mountainside,

"**"The message has been played, sir!" **one of the figures said. **"Good...we'll soon have those weapons within our grasps...soon." **one of the figures, apparently the leader says laughing menacingly...

* * *

Well i really should update more often but i'm...lazy and i don't feel inspired but i won't abandon this story i still have things i intend to do...eventually.

As always, review! constructive criticism is welcome...PRAISE is even more welcome but that is incredibly rare for me.


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